Talk:Shiba Tatsuya/Relationships/@comment-76.17.190.210-20141010200326/@comment-120.29.96.229-20141028131713
"...This is the Public Moral Committee's HQ, right?" That was Mayumi's first question after descending the stairs. "That was quite the unexpected greeting." "What, this is all because of you, Mari. No matter how many times Rin-chan reminds you or how much A-chan begs you, you still haven't cleaned up the place." "I object to your hurtful and inaccurate description of the situation, Mayumi! It's not that I don't want to clean up, but that I haven't started yet!" "As a woman, you should pay more attention to this." Mayumi narrowed her eyes as she squinted at Mari, who hurriedly turned around. "It's not like I don't want to... Ah, that." Upon seeing Tatsuya busily examining a terminal's internal condition after removing the protective cover, Mayumi displayed an understanding expression as she nodded. "So it's because he's been put to good use already." "Meh, just so." Mari's back was still facing Mayumi as she replied, just as Tatsuya closed the protective cover and turned around. "Chief, the inspections are complete. The damaged parts have already been replaced. There should be no more problems." "Good work." Mari nodded quickly, but maybe he was reading too much into it, because Tatsuya thought he could see sweat beads on Mari's temple. Cold sweat. "Eh... So you address Mari as Chief, which means we have successfully recruited you." "I thought I never had the right to refuse in the first place..." Tatsuya didn't even look at Mayumi's teasing expression, and deadpanned his response. Mayumi looked like she disapproved of Tatsuya's attitude. She placed one hand on her hips, raised the other forefinger, directing her most displeased gaze towards him as she was about to unleash her most exaggerated attitude to voice her objection. "Tatsuya-kun, isn't your response to your older sister simply too rude?" ...In short, the way Tatsuya framed his response was because he didn't have an older sister. If he admitted this aloud, Tatsuya felt that the situation would only grow worse, so he did not verbalize it. No matter where it started or where it ended, it was so archetypal that no real response was possible. If anything, Mayumi's attitude towards him was overly casual, Tatsuya thought to himself. He had entered this type of situation with similar impressions in the past, and managed to sidestep the issue every time. This time however, Tatsuya somehow felt that he was unable to do so. "President, just in case, I want to clarify one thing with you." "Hm, what is it?" "We met for the first time just before the enrollment ceremony, right?" It goes without saying that meeting for the first time might constitute an overly familiar attitude, not to mention all the additional meanings behind those words, as Mayumi's eyes widened upon hearing them. However, they quickly reverted to their normal size and narrowed even more, to the point that her expression could only be described as "wicked". Tatsuya finally realized what a terrible move he made. Just before, Mari had a very similar facial expression, now that Tatsuya thought about it. So, this must be what people mean by birds of a feather flock together, Tatsuya thought as he wished he could escape reality. "Is this how it is... Ho ho ho ho ho." Tiny devil would be a perfectly appropriate description for that smiling face. "Tatsuya-kun thinks that we've met before, right? And the day of the enrollment ceremony must be our fateful reunion!" "No, wait, President?" Exactly why were the tensions rising so quickly?. "A long time ago we might have met once, then thrust apart by cruel fate, only to be united by destiny once more!" If she was really reveling in those words, she would be a dangerous person. But if she was acting this entire sequence out while purposefully allowing everyone else to know she was acting, there was something terribly wrong with that kind of personality. "...Unfortunately, that was undoubtedly our first meeting." "...I thought so too." "I say, I say, unless you really got those fateful meeting vibes?" Mayumi clasped her hands in front of her chest and pressed her face closer towards Tatsuya. —She looked very excited, but in reality she was fooling around. This suited her quite well... Truly, a terrible personality. "...Sorry, why are you so happy about this?" Even if he used a question to answer a question, he wouldn't receive an answer. The only thing he received was that gaze filled with expectations. She is an "S", Tatsuya jotted down in his mental notebook. Seizing the opportunity, Tatsuya replied. "...If this is destiny, then it definitely isn't fate, and looks more like doom." Tatsuya's reply caused Mayumi's face to darken as she turned around. "Is that so...?" A lonely muttering meandered to Tatsuya's ear. Dark clouds of depression gathered behind her back. Tatsuya also felt that he might have gone too far. Even though his response was based on his estimation that Mayumi was completely teasing him, if there was a shade of sincerity in them, then he needed to apologize. However... There was no way to tell if it was good luck or bad, but the sense of guilt didn't linger for too long. That was probably due to confusion, given the circumstances. "...Tch." As her shoulders slumped slightly, Mayumi's lips dropped a sound that could only mean a sense of defeat. It was Tatsuya's turn to widen his eyes. It was only a small sound to be sure, and not graceful in any way, but could still be identified. (!) "Um, President?" "Hm, what is it?" Mayumi turned around to face Tatsuya; her elegant smile would have charmed any newly enrolled male student. "...Why do I feel like I understand you a little better now, President?" Feeling utterly exhausted, Tatsuya thought that he glimpsed Mayumi's real face behind the mask. And that is, a smiling face that loved to tease others. "It's about time to stop the jokes. Tatsuya-kun, too much leisure time can be a bad thing." Towards Mayumi, who was completely guiltless and treated the entire thing as a joke, Mari said, "You can't use the same tricks you used on Hattori, Mayumi. Your appearance doesn't work on him." Mari took the opportunity to throw in her two cents. "Don't describe others in such an evil manner. It's as if I like messing with underclassmen." Unable to ignore the previous comment, Mayumi's answer became a little heated. "Regarding what I just heard..." Tatsuya deeply regretted opening his mouth with prior consideration, and began to clean up again. If he stayed too long in the miasma spread by the others, he would definitely suffer additional damage. "The difference in Mayumi's attitude is because she's already acknowledged you, Tatsuya-kun. She probably considers the two of you to be quite alike in some areas. In other words, she's playing coy. She only takes off her mask in front of the people she acknowledges." At Mari's oddly solemn expression, Tatsuya felt a sense of unease. "Don't believe what Mari says, Tatsuya-kun. But, I guess I do acknowledge you. It feels like I can't deal with you the same way I treat the others. Maybe the one touched by fate is me." Hearing this, and seeing Mayumi's smiling face that no sane man could hate, Tatsuya's internal pace had been completely disrupted. Looks like challenging these two directly from the front would be an exercise in futility, Tatsuya thought.